This morning’s Western Mail yet again conjures up a storm about not-very-much with a headline proclaiming that there are doubts over the £1bn electrification of the Swansea-London railway line. To be frank there has been ever since the previous Labour government announced the project without any identifiable funding.
The paper says that because it was omitted from a list of capital budgets announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his budget and because the Department of Transport is reviewing its spending committments then the scheme may not go ahead. This is just speculation.
Given the financial situation we are in I am astonished that anybody would think that a new government would behave any differently, however the rest of the article makes it clear that the electrification project is far from down-and-out:
there is backing for the idea in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition agreement.
Electrification of the west coast line has cut journey times between London and Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, and business leaders, the Wales Office and the Assembly Government are keen to bring the same benefits to South Wales.
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones, whose portfolio includes transport, met UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday to stress the economic need for electrification.
A spokesman for Mr Jones said: “It was a very productive meeting and we were able to discuss electrification and high-speed rail.
“There will be a report on high-speed rail by the end of the year, which will include future links for Wales and Scotland. We will continue to press the case for electrification.”
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “We will continue to work closely with the Welsh Assembly Government on transport matters, including rail electrification.
“However, our priority is tackling the fiscal deficit and ministers will consider the full range of proposed transport projects in parallel with the spending review process to ascertain what is affordable.
“Any decisions on the future of Network Rail are independent of this process.”
So talks are on-going and the project is receiving full consideration. Everybody recognises the benefits. What needs to happen now is that we find a way to make it happen.
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